The Land of Israel

He is concerned with the hard, stony soil found in most people’s hearts. He commands that this land be plowed by repentance so that His Word can be planted there to bring forth good fruit that glorifies His Name (Jer. 4:3-4; Hos. 10:12).

There are many who live in a Middle Eastern state called Israel, whose heartland remains unplowed, and who continue to bear wicked fruit.

To God, such a person is not His Israel, not His people, not the apple of His eye, and not His chosen.

God is everywhere, seeking to redeem every person. Having two feet planted on the “home base” of Israel will score no points with God. If I am anti-Semitic for saying this (and I vehemently deny that charge), I am no more anti-Semitic than were Jesus and Paul and John the Baptist (John 8:37-47; Gal. 3:16, 26, 28-29; I Thess. 2:14-16; Rom. 9:6-8, 31-33; 11:21; Matt. 3:7-12).

Blood history linking a Christ-less Jew to Abraham helps him not a bit, for he lacks the faith of Abraham. His physical circumcision is counted as uncircumcision while his heart remains uncircumcised. His Jewishness is meaningless until he becomes the true Jew of which Paul spoke in Rom. 2:28-29.

As the fulfillment of the Old Testament Temple is Jesus Christ (Jesus being the temple itself, the High Priest, the atoning Sacrifice, etc.), so the fulfillment of the “land of Israel” is Jesus Christ.

Matthew affirms that when Jesus was brought “out of Egypt” by Joseph, He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy about Israel (Hos. 11:1; Matt. 2:15).

As a “mixed multitude” left Egypt with Old Testament Israel (Exo. 12:38), it has always been God’s plan to save all races of people by leading them out of slavery to sin and into that blessed place of covenant with Him. Any “stranger” could join Israel simply by submitting to Israel’s God even in Old Testament times, and this remains true today, though I do not refer to an earthly citizenship, but a heavenly citizenship (Phil. 3:20; Gal. 4:25-26; Eph. 2:12-22; Heb. 11:9-16, 12:22-23; Rev. 21:2).

All who follow Jesus out of the world (Egypt), who are baptized into His death (as pictured in the Red Sea crossing), who drink living water of the Rock who is Christ, who live not on bread alone but on God’s Word (manna), who remain faithful to Him in wilderness trials, and who enter into covenant with Him by sacrifice (of the Holy Lamb of God), returning not again to idolatry as a dog might return to its vomit—these are the Israel of God. These alone remain in the land of promise. This is the Israel of God, upon whom is peace forever (for Christ gives them His peace), and against whom the whole world gnashes its teeth.

The Israel of God has an ethnically Hebrew root against which we dare not boast. For what can happen to the Hebrew can happen to us too. Consider the warnings of 1 Cor. 10–we are expressly warned that if we follow the ways of the apostate Hebrews, we shall meet an end like theirs, no matter what spiritual blessings we have thus far enjoyed.

Although the Israel of God has an ethnically Hebrew root, we do not know the Lord Jesus–or other saints–after the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16-17). Jesus is God–the God of both Jew and Gentile.

It is not a matter of being “on this mountain” or “on that mountain,” but worshiping God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:19-24). John the Baptist was not “in the Vine” by being the cousin of Jesus according to the flesh. Paul was not “in the Vine” by being “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews…” (Phil. 3:5-6). These distinctions were counted as dung to him. The objective of knowing Jesus, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering was the goal–a spiritual goal attainable by every person regardless of ethnicity or nationality.

Neither can anyone count on the flesh as regards “Father Abraham,” for true obedient faith is the only connection we can have to this patriarch (Lk 3:8-9; Rom. 9:8; Gal. 3:7). God is able to raise up from the stones children to Abraham, and He has — the children of faith are living or lively stones that rest upon the Cornerstone (Matt. 3:9; I Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:19-22).

So why are people concerned about a piece of land in the Middle East–the very piece of land Father Abraham counted as a strange country?

The short answer is that false teachers in America have adopted and repeated the doctrines of apostate Jewish Pharisees that promote earthly racism and nationalism (read IDOLATRY). The system of theology (dispensationalism) is poisonous, in that it becomes a colored lens through which all Scripture is then read, and its message distorted. Its effects can be subtle at first, but when its fruit ripens, you have “American pastors” claiming Jesus is not the Messiah to the Jews, and we should not preach the Gospel to them. This is antiChrist fruit springing from an antiChrist root.

The Pharisees were concerned about the prosperity of their land and their nation, but they weren’t concerned about knowing and obeying God (Matt. 23). Caiaphas claimed that the whole nation was at stake (John 11:50); if people believed Jesus was the Messiah, trouble with Rome might ensue. Some of the Pharisees probably wanted peace with Rome (the occupying nation) to continue because they were financially and socially advantaged by the arrangement, while more patriotic zealots wanted freedom from Rome altogether–but both groups were consumed by “this world” and how their personal stake in it could be bettered. Their carnal minds, always minding the things of the flesh, were enmity against God (Rom. 8:5-8).

Apostate Jews were blinded by their disobedience to God, and therefore unable to see that God’s Messiah was not an earthly king who would come to set them free from Rome or its taxes. They had the Scriptures but did not understand them, because their hearts were far from the Author who breathed them. They ignored the Scriptures that did not fit with their man-made theology, and they read into the Scriptures what did fit, being carnal men attempting to use a Spiritual book for carnal advantage.

There is nothing new under the sun. Jesus declared His kingdom is not of this world, but to this day, people refuse to believe Him. They refuse to believe Him because they are in love with this world. How often are we warned to beware of covetousness, loving this world, and the various forms of the pride of life. How lovingly the Savior bids us to deny ourselves and be born again into a kingdom only the reborn can actually see and appreciate. How carefully He instructs us to behave as new and holy men, not conforming ourselves to the pattern of this world. But how deceitfully the heart plots to keep one foot in Christ’s kingdom and one foot in man’s.

In America, apostate or lukewarm Christians want to carnally “take back America” not because they care about souls, but because their personal security is being threatened. If you doubt what I write, consider how many people were trying to “take back America” before the fruits of our sins began to ripen and cause us distress. If we want to be honest Christians, we have to begin by being honest about our history. We were founded by rebellion and made rich by oppression. The privileges we have enjoyed do not affirm God’s approval of all we have done. For years we basked in the supposed “blessing of God,” and grew fat and disinterested in true religion (James 1:27). We traded in a spiritual inheritance for a carnal pot of porridge that would eventually run dry and leave us and our children starving.

For some (not all) Jews, being related to Abraham or residing in the modern state of Israel continues to be a source of pride. It bears repeating: all pride will be brought low; the axe is laid to the root of the tree. John the Baptist didn’t mind telling his countrymen this, and true believers also have nothing to fear from the truth.

In the American apostate church, we have a blend of religious and patriotic pride that is especially intoxicating–under its influence, she reels like a drunkard, unable to lead anyone to the Biblical Christ. We like to mix our “love of Israel” with our love for our own nation, and dress up this carnality with rags of self-righteousness bound at the waist by cords of twisted Scriptures. Led by blind leaders (modern day Pharisees like John Hagee) who profit off our ignorance and self-love, we come to think that if only we pretend the “land of Israel” (a secular state every bit as antichrist as our own) is God’s people, and we support legislation that helps them militarily, we can be the “apple of God’s eye” by proxy, in spite of our continued sin. This is an INSANELY UNBIBLICAL belief. Every earthly nation is brought down by its own wickedness, and there are no exceptions.

We have professing Christians in this nation who rightly condemn the Crusades of earlier times, even as they march to the same drumbeat. For them, it is the possessing of land that counts. If innocent blood is spilled on the way, what difference does it make?–We shall give ourselves a better life in this world. GOD FORBID the true church of Jesus Christ ever give an inch to such pernicious leaven! If you have been affected, rise up and shake it off! Do not delay!

If you are a true child of God and familiar with His Word, you should have an instinctive knowing inside that what you have been taught in most churches about Israel is not right. The Jewish apostles and prophets (including Jesus Himself) never taught national elitism or in any way supported political programs that did. Maybe in sincere ignorance, you have blindly “supported Israel” out of a loving heart for a people Jesus wept over. There is nothing wrong with wanting the good of a people, but be careful that your loving heart does not exceed what is written, for God Himself has pronounced the most excoriating rebukes on those who reject the light they are given. Woe to those who call evil good. Make sure that your love for Palestinians and other people groups is equal to your love for Israelis, only exceeded by your love for the saints who are sprinkled all over the world.

In summary, it is not “boasting against the root” to assert these truths:

1. The kingdom of God has been taken from the Jews and given to an interracial spiritual nation that brings forth God’s fruit (Matt. 21:43; I Pet. 2:9).

2. This kingdom is not of this world and its servants do not fight (John 18:36).

3. This kingdom is not protected by carnal weapons (2 Cor. 10:3-4).

4. This kingdom cannot be inherited by flesh and blood (I Cor. 15:50.)

5. Members of this kingdom do not war against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12).

6. The modern state of Israel is man-made, man-led, and antichrist just like our own nation (as a whole). A remnant will be saved.

7. God cares for the people in nations that surround the state of Israel, as much as He cares for those in Israel. His method of bringing change to Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, etc., is through the Gospel sown and grown in their heart-land.

8. As long as America sins, America is under wrath. As long as the state of Israel sins, Israel is under wrath. A confederacy between our two nations will not help either of us spiritually. Both nations will fall together. God calls individuals to come out from among them and be separate, and if they obey Him, He will be their Father.

9. The Way still stands open while today remains, for every Jew and Gentile to be grafted into the Israel of God–Jesus Christ–by faith (Rom. 11). There is NO OTHER WAY, NO OTHER GOSPEL, and NO OTHER MEANS to be blessed by God.